Why not step into someone else’s life for a while by reading or listening to a biography or memoir while you’re staying home and staying safe? Here are a few suggestions that you can download from Overdrive with your Fairfield Public Library card.
A MARVELOUS LIFE
By Danny Fingeroth
“In this enthusiastic biography of Stan Lee (1922–2018), Fingeroth, one-time writer and editor at Lee’s longtime employer Marvel Comics, tells the story of the man who helped create comic legends including Spider-Man and Black Panther.”~Publisher’s Weekly
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DUTCH GIRL
By Robert Matzen
“A meticulously detailed and researched look at the formative years of an iconic performer; for fans of Hepburn as well as anyone seeking a social history of the Dutch experience of World War II.” ~Library Journal
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EDISON
By Edmund Morris
“Inspiration and perspiration prodigiously unite in this sweeping biography of one of America’s greatest inventors. Pulitzer-winning biographer Morris tells Thomas Alva Edison’s story backward, opening with the creator of the first long-lasting light bulb, the phonograph, and other electromechanical marvels in lionized, imperious old age and presenting each decade of his life in reverse order, back to his boyhood spells of intense, isolated concentration.” ~Publisher’s Weekly
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MAID
By Stephanie Land
“In her heartfelt and powerful debut memoir, Land describes the struggles she faced as a young single mother living in poverty. “My daughter learned to walk in a homeless shelter,” she writes, before chronicling her difficult circumstances.” ~Publisher’s Weekly
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HERO OF THE EMPIRE
By Candice Millard
“Biographer Millard…writes about one of the most famous statesmen of the twentieth century, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Rather than facing the man in full bloom during WWII, she casts dramatic light on the incidents that brought “to the attention of a rapt British public a young Churchill.” In 1899, he was already aware of his future importance in the political world and certain that he would need to show glory on the battlefield during the colonial Boer War in South Africa. The perfect opportunity arose when he was taken prisoner and managed not only to escape but, after great hardship, also return to the fight. Millard’s rendering of the exciting details of Churchill’s heroic exploits result in a magnificently told story.” ~Booklist
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IN PIECES
By Sally Field
“Arresting in its dark disclosures, vitality, humor, and grace, Field’s deeply felt and beautifully written memoir illuminates the experiences and emotions on which she draws as an exceptionally charismatic, empathic, and powerful artist.” ~Booklist
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WHISKEY IN A TEACUP
By Reese Witherspoon
“Actress and book club host Witherspoon pays tribute to her Southern roots in this charming collection of recipes, how-to’s, and personal stories.” ~Publisher’s Weekly
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GRANT
By Ron Chernow
“Acclaimed biographer Chernow, winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Washington: A Life, entertains in this informative whopper as he upends the long-held view of Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) as a lumbering general and incompetent president.” ~Publisher’s Weekly
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SMALL FRY
By Lisa Brennan-Jobs
“An epic, sharp coming-of-age story from the daughter of Steve Jobs. It’s rare to find a memoir from a celebrity’s child in which the writing is equal to—or exceeds—the parent’s reputation, but that is the case with Brennan-Jobs’ debut. The author engagingly packs in every detail of her life, including her seemingly innocuous conception by Jobs and artist Chrisann Brennan, her father’s paternity denial, their rocky reconciliation, and Jobs’ ultimate rejection and silence.” ~Kirkus
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A LIFE IN PARTS
By Bryan Cranston
“Cranston fans will delight in the intimate revelations in this substantial memoir from one of Hollywood’s most introspective stars. And anyone interested in acting will devour Cranston’s savvy advice about honing one’s craft and building one’s career.” ~Booklist
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EDUCATED
By Tara Westover
“A recent Cambridge University doctorate debuts with a wrenching account of her childhood and youth in a strict Mormon family in a remote region of Idaho… An astonishing account of deprivation, confusion, survival, and success.” ~Kirkus
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“What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again.” ~Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay